12 OCTOBER 1901, Page 14

DREAM-STORIES.

[TO THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."]

Sin,—A curious parallel to Lady Cooper's tale of the sapphire ring seen by her in a dream and next day received by post has come to my knowledge. A servant who has been for many years in my family was staying this autumn in Scotland with some cousins. She dreamed that a ring set with stones, some missing, was given to her, and she told her dream. Later, a ring with three rubies (or topazes) and four brilliants, one of them missing, was given to her by her cousins ; it had belonged to a relation, long dead. In this case, of course, the dream may have suggested the making of the present, and the anecdote only leads up to what follows. The occurrence reminded Miss A. (the recipient) of one more singular. About seven years ago another maid of ours, B., dreamed that she received a present of a " chased" ring, and told her dream in the morning to A. In the same morning the post brought a small parcel to B. It contained a ring, gold, rather massive, and chased with a pretty decorative pattern. B. had no reason to suppose that any present was about to he made to her, and the season was not Christmas, when presents "is what most every girl expex." A. and B. have both told me the anecdotes, and shown me the rings. They had not seen Lady Cooper's tale in the Spectator. To dream of receiving presents is not very rare in my own experience, but the dreams have never yet been fulfilled. In the cases of Lady Cooper and B., the exactness of correspondence between the dream rings and the real rings leaves us to the usual theory of fortuitous coincidence, or to that of "premonition," or telepathy.—I am, Sir, &c., J. N.